


Scars of the Past

by Lyra (swanhilde)



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Child Abuse, F/F, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 15:46:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4570209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanhilde/pseuds/Lyra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dragon Age: Inquisition and all its characters belong to Bioware.<br/>Sorsha Adaar belongs to me.<br/>Trigger warning for abuse.</p><p>Not long after her appointment to Inquisitor, Sorsha Adaar begins to recall some of the worst parts of her childhood in vivid detail through her dreams. Feelings that she has long since bottled up begin to return in force, demanding that she take revenge on those who had hurt her. As she wrestles with her demons, her new found friends in the Inquisition may be the only ones who can help her, before she does something that she may regret for the rest of her life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before

"You ungrateful little bitch!"

Quivering with fear, a young Tal-Vashoth girl backed away from her mother's threatening shape, her bright blue eyes wide with fear.

"Please, Mother. I didn't-" The girl pleaded. What had she done wrong? Had she forgotten something again?

"That's right! You didn't do anything! You're useless!" Her mother screamed, her eyes fiery with rage. "You should be grateful for everything I've done for you! If it hadn't been for me you'd still be stuck with your father in Par Vollen!"

"I know mommy, I-I know he doesn't love me, only y-you do."

"Yes he hates you! I'm the only one who would love an awful child like you!" Her mother grabbed the girl by the horns, pulling her close to her face. "Do you know what happens to little girls who don't listen to the Tamassrans under the Qun?"

The girl shook her head, tears spilling from her eyelids. Her mother's face was inches from hers, her dark grey skin purple with rage.

"Stop crying!"

With a loud crack she slapped her daughter, knocking her back with the force of the impact. The girl cried out in pain, cradling her bright red cheek in her hands. Forcing back tears, she tried to crawl away from her mother. Maybe she could make it outside? If she could just reach the doo-

"Let go of me!" She cried as her mother dragged her away from the door of their house. She struggled to get free but to no avail.

"You shouldn't have done that," her mother snarled in her ear.

Her mother dropped her on a ratty old rug, sending dust up into the air in a poof. She landed heavily on her back, her cheek still burning with pain. The girl looked up in fear at her mother as she pulled open the drawer of a table near her, a curled whip within.

She sat there paralyzed with fear. Her mother had threatened her with the whip before but she would never-

"This is what happens to those little girls," She said quietly, brandishing her new weapon.

Terrified, the girl just stared at her mother, her tears dried up. Her instincts screamed at her to run, to get away but she was frozen to the spot.

For a moment, time seemed to slow down. She watched as the whip rose into the air, unfurling. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she waited for it to strike. A cry of shock from behind her was muffled by the blood rushing in her ears.

Suddenly, time reasserted itself and the whip struck, pale light playing along its length.

In that moment the world seemed to explode in hot agony.


	2. Now

"Fire. Blood. A distant cry. She wants to sleep. Please, anything to make the pain go away," the spirit of compassion says. His voice is soft as he looks down from the rafters to where the Inquisitor lies curled up upon her bed, hot tears falling from tired, glazed over eyes.

"Bleeding. Shaking. A permanent mark of a mother's love. But why does it hurt?" Cole whispers, disappearing from his perch in favour of the cover that the Fade brings.

Sorsha doesn't flinch as he reappears beside her on the velvet covers, her azure eyes fixed on a point on a wall in front of her. She had never been one to cry loudly. When she weeped it was silently and without any movement to betray her. The only sign of her pain were her tears and her blank stare.

"She stole so much from you when she gave you those scars," He says as he stares at the bit of pale, upraised skin revealed by her unbuttoned collar. "She made you think that she loved you, made you think that you deserved this pain and you believed her. But, somewhere deep down past all the manipulation and lies you knew that what she said was wrong."

The spirit tilts his head, watching his friend closely. "I want to help. The things she did to you weren't out of love, they were for control. Those who really love you don't do things like that and there are people who care for you here, you don't need to shut them out because of her."

"I... I know. Thank you, Cole, but I'm fine," she turns to face him, staring into his pale eyes. "I need to work this out but it's good to know you're here."

"Alright," Cole replies, simply, despite knowing full well of her struggle. Her pain made him ache inside; he was desperate to help her.

He considers making her forget. Maybe he could try again that way, see if this time it would help her but he stops himself. Some things need to remembered.

As quickly as he appeared, the spirit vanishes, walking along the Veil between this world and the Fade beyond it.


End file.
